Department of Homeland Security

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we are a Nation of immigrants, but we are also a Nation of laws. That is a commonsense statement and one on which Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree. But, lately, Democrats have proved that they don't really think we are a Nation of laws. In fact, they don't really seem to care whether some of our laws, particularly laws dealing with border security and illegal immigration, get enforced at all.

And they are even trying to defund the very Agencies that enforce those laws. That is right: no funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement; no funding for Border Patrol. This is what passes for a reasonable proposal in the Democrat Party today.

Democrats apparently think it is reasonable to have nobody patrolling the southern border. They think it is reasonable to let criminal illegal immigrants continue living freely in our country. If that is the Democrats' position, I guess it just proves how far to the left their party has moved.

While our Democrat colleagues try to appeal to the ``defund the police'' crowd, Republicans are doing our job. Last week, Senate Republicans moved forward to begin a process that will allow us to fund Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement without-- without--Democrats.

And in order to prevent Democrats from trying to defund law enforcement again in September, we are going to fund these Agencies for the next 3 years. We are going to give these law enforcement officers certainty that they won't be used as political pawns by Democrats and that they will be able to do the job they were hired to do. And that is an important job.

Protecting our borders and deporting criminal illegal aliens are essential components of our country's security. It is unfortunate that Democrats don't agree.

Last week, the Democrat leader said that Border Patrol and ICE are two Agencies that ``nobody respects in this country.''

``Nobody respects Border Patrol and ICE.'' That is what he said.

Apparently, the fact that there are men and women putting their lives on the line to ensure dangerous individuals don't enter our country does not merit respect from Senate Democrats.

I guess it is no surprise. After all, Democrats have a history of failing to respect our immigration laws. The Biden administration clearly did not believe in enforcing immigration laws, and the result was 4 years of recordbreaking illegal immigration under President Biden's watch.

Millions--millions--were coming here illegally every single year, and a whole lot of those people were waved through and allowed to take up residence in this country.

And long before the Biden border crisis, Democrat-led cities and States were implementing sanctuary city policies that prevented their law enforcement agencies from working with Federal law enforcement to get criminal illegal immigrants off our streets.

These misguided policies have had tragic consequences. Laken Riley is just one example. Mr. President, 2 years ago, Laken was murdered while out on a run on the campus of the University of Georgia. Her killer was an illegal immigrant who should never have had the opportunity to get near her.

He entered the country illegally during the Biden administration. He was released into the interior and was subsequently arrested in New York City and later issued a citation for shoplifting in Georgia a few short months before Laken's murder.

After being arrested in New York City, he was released before Immigration and Customs Enforcement could issue a detainer, a request that police hold an individual so that he could be taken into immigration custody.

And so this individual, here in the United States illegally--and subsequently involved in two crimes--was free on the University of Georgia campus when Laken Riley went running in February of 2024.

A man, who had illegally entered our country and then committed not one but two crimes in our country, should not have been free on our streets, but he was because of open border and sanctuary policies implemented by Democrats.

The Democrats haven't learned their lesson. Today, Democrats are advocating for defunding border security and immigration enforcement. They are advocating for a return to the policies that led to tragedies like the murder of Laken Riley, policies that led to a crisis at the southern border and made America and Americans less safe.

Thanks to Democrats, we have seen what happens when our immigration laws aren't enforced. No one--no one--wants to go back to that--no one, I guess, but Democrats. We are not about to let that happen. Republicans will continue to work to ensure that our borders are secure and that dangerous criminals are not on our streets.

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